So, this is completely not house related, but I figured if you cared enough about our house, you'd care about my job too.
Dow announced yesterday that they will be cutting 5000 company jobs and 6000 contractor jobs beginning in 1Q09. They will also be shutting down a number of plants. I thankfully, don't fall into any of those categories. To all of the Vicknairs out there -- it's ok, you can stop your stomach from being in knots and allow your food to begin digesting again.
Thank you for your time. That is all.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Brick work
The brick repairs on the den are complete! I am pretty stoked about this. It's the first work to be completed since the check arrived. I have paid off everybody I owed money and it feels good. I called the brick mason on Wednesday. He came on Thursday to see what needed to be done and give me an estimate. He arrived Friday morning and was done Friday afternoon. I was impressed by the prompt service.
The brick mason is the contractor that we use at work. He told me that he has been laying bricks for 50 years, but hadn't laid brick like ours since he was an apprentice. He was able to use the brick that was removed along with some bricks that were in a pile in the back yard. Luckily he was able to do the job with the bricks we had. I'm not sure what we would have done if we hadn't had enough. I think I got a good price on the labor and they cleaned the mortar off of the brick and picked up after themselves. I hope to post some pictures of the progress soon. I'll create a short post when I do so that you all know to check.
The brick mason is the contractor that we use at work. He told me that he has been laying bricks for 50 years, but hadn't laid brick like ours since he was an apprentice. He was able to use the brick that was removed along with some bricks that were in a pile in the back yard. Luckily he was able to do the job with the bricks we had. I'm not sure what we would have done if we hadn't had enough. I think I got a good price on the labor and they cleaned the mortar off of the brick and picked up after themselves. I hope to post some pictures of the progress soon. I'll create a short post when I do so that you all know to check.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A check arrived!
After much anxiety, the first check has arrived from CitiMortgage! The pleasant surprise is that it was for two thirds of the amount. When I called last wednesday hoping to ascertain a FedEx tracking number on my check, I was informed that there was a hold on the payment because they hadn't received certain documents. I became irate because in the more than half dozen calls I have had with Citi, no one ever mentioned these documents to me. After chewing out a supervisor I was told that I could fax the documents to them that day and they would issue a check within 5-7 business days. 5-7 more days!!! I yelled some more then went to mom and dad's to fax it to them. When I called to confirm the fax I spoke with a guy named Steve Jennings. He is the only person I will talk to now. He was helpful and knowledgeable.
So it had occurred to me after Steve clarified some things to me there is a problem. The way that insurance works it that they give you the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of damaged property. Once the repairs are "substantially under way," they then issue a check for the Replacement Cost. Citimortgage doesn't release the final third of the amount (ACV) until the repairs are 95% complete. It escapes my understanding that they think I can complete 95% of the repairs with only 2/3 of the ACV which is about 2/3 of the replacement cost. To give you an example, State Farm only gave me about $3500 to replace the roof. It will cost about $10,000 to replace. Citimortgage things I can get the job done with $2300?!?
Well, the fight is long from over, but I've finally won the first battle. It's refreshing to know that I have at least a chance of getting the money I need. I've got a price to put vinyl on the soffit and that contractor is ready to start. I talked to the brick mason today and he is coming tomorrow to give me an estimate and let me know what materials (how much mortar and sand) I need to purchase. He sounded like he can get to work quickly. The roofer is ready and willing to start whenever I give him the word. It's a bit frustrating to have all of these guys chomping at the bit and not being able to let them all start working. The brick should be relatively inexpensive so we'll go ahead and get that done.
Hopefully the updates will come fast and furious from here on out, but I can't say I'm confident.
So it had occurred to me after Steve clarified some things to me there is a problem. The way that insurance works it that they give you the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of damaged property. Once the repairs are "substantially under way," they then issue a check for the Replacement Cost. Citimortgage doesn't release the final third of the amount (ACV) until the repairs are 95% complete. It escapes my understanding that they think I can complete 95% of the repairs with only 2/3 of the ACV which is about 2/3 of the replacement cost. To give you an example, State Farm only gave me about $3500 to replace the roof. It will cost about $10,000 to replace. Citimortgage things I can get the job done with $2300?!?
Well, the fight is long from over, but I've finally won the first battle. It's refreshing to know that I have at least a chance of getting the money I need. I've got a price to put vinyl on the soffit and that contractor is ready to start. I talked to the brick mason today and he is coming tomorrow to give me an estimate and let me know what materials (how much mortar and sand) I need to purchase. He sounded like he can get to work quickly. The roofer is ready and willing to start whenever I give him the word. It's a bit frustrating to have all of these guys chomping at the bit and not being able to let them all start working. The brick should be relatively inexpensive so we'll go ahead and get that done.
Hopefully the updates will come fast and furious from here on out, but I can't say I'm confident.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Citi Mortgage Sucks
So I have obviously been EXTREMELY remiss in keeping up with the blog. I sincerely apologize. Jenny and I have been stressing out lately and I haven't gotten around to it. Let's dive in...
So State Farm was by no means rapid in processing our claim and issuing us a check, but they weren't bad either. Unfortunately, for some reason that I still don't understand, Citi thought we had Farmer's insurance and State Farm thought our mortgage was with Nationwide. This led to Citi thinking our insurance policy had been cancelled and State Farm issuing us a check with the wrong mortgage company listed as a payee. It took me about a week to get the correct check. Once I did I was instructed that in order to receive the funds, we would have to endorse the check and mail it to Citi. They would then issue us 1/3 of the funds. After completing 1/3 of the repairs (whatever that means) we should call them back. They will send out an inspector to verify that we have completed 1/3 of the repairs. If he agrees, we will be issued the second third of the check. We then do it all over again. In order to obtain the final 1/3 we need to complete 95% of the repairs (I think), turn in receipts (which I think is absolute bullshit), and then they will release the rest.
Citi Mortgage sucks. I am really considering refinancing as soon as that is a viable option. This is absolutely ridiculous. *Deep Breath* I mailed the check to them on 13 Oct. I used registered mail for obvious reasons. The postcard confirmation I got back said it arrived on the 20th. I called to verify this. "We received your check on the 22nd." Really? I'm pretty sure you didn't. They deposited the check. Now they are waiting for it to clear. I should have a check in my hands by the end of this week. Alright. "Can I go ahead and request my first inspection?" "Absolutely. An inspector will contact you within 5 business days to set up an appointment?" Apparently the inspection process moves as quickly as the processing office. Awesome. Inspector calls me a few days later. "I have an opening next tuesday at 1:30 pm." "Um, do you have anything that isn't in the middle of weekday?" "Well, I live in central, so I try not to schedule appointments across town first thing in the morning." "Try living in the city, dipshit. Oh, and not being so lazy" (I didn't actually say this, but I think he might have gotten the message because he's coming at 8)
I'm sorry to rant about this, but it pisses me off. My house was damaged on 1 September and I haven't gotten a dime to help rebuild. I pay my mortgage on time every month. I am current on my insurance. I don't think that it's too much to ask for these people to get me some aid in less than 2 months!
We have done some work. The trees were removed from our house and eventually from our curb. Our yard (front and back) were pretty damaged by this whole process. On 13 October the framing carpenters arrived. After consultation we decided to remove everything above the walls: every joist, rafter, and sheet of decking. Jenny and I needed a vacation so we went to Gulf Shores for the rest of the week. It was great.
When we came back the framing was essentially done. The had to finish up the soffit and fascia which they did on Monday. Because of the damage done by the tree we had to replace the one (yes one) window in the den. We decided not to go with the same setup. I was able to procure 3 Jeld-Wen Vinyl windows (3' x 5'6") for a VERY good price. They look so much better. That's one nice thing we couldn't have done if it weren't for Gustav. Thanks, I guess.
Work has since come to a grinding halt. We are out of money. (Not in the food stamp way, but in the "I'm not using up all of my liquid assets" kind of way.) I owe people money (which I hate!) For the most part they are being very understanding that I am being hosed by the mortgage company, but I still hate it. The sad part is that most of the first check is going to be to pay off people. We really can't do much until we get the second third. I think that roofing is going to eat up the entire second check, so we won't be able to get much done until we get the third check. We'll see. It could definitely be worse. Two of our friends (a couple that have gotten married since Jenny and I did) are living with his parents, his sister, her 3 kids and a total of 3 dogs. Yikes! I love my family, but I don't think we could do that.
I'll try to post again soon (as work progresses). I sincerely hope that my next post won't be so bitter. I am very excited that I will (probably) get to see my siblings in the coming weekends. Hopefully they can make it the house since they haven't seen it yet! I am disappointed that they will see in this shape, but oh well. Hope everything is going well for everyone else. Keep your chins up!
So State Farm was by no means rapid in processing our claim and issuing us a check, but they weren't bad either. Unfortunately, for some reason that I still don't understand, Citi thought we had Farmer's insurance and State Farm thought our mortgage was with Nationwide. This led to Citi thinking our insurance policy had been cancelled and State Farm issuing us a check with the wrong mortgage company listed as a payee. It took me about a week to get the correct check. Once I did I was instructed that in order to receive the funds, we would have to endorse the check and mail it to Citi. They would then issue us 1/3 of the funds. After completing 1/3 of the repairs (whatever that means) we should call them back. They will send out an inspector to verify that we have completed 1/3 of the repairs. If he agrees, we will be issued the second third of the check. We then do it all over again. In order to obtain the final 1/3 we need to complete 95% of the repairs (I think), turn in receipts (which I think is absolute bullshit), and then they will release the rest.
Citi Mortgage sucks. I am really considering refinancing as soon as that is a viable option. This is absolutely ridiculous. *Deep Breath* I mailed the check to them on 13 Oct. I used registered mail for obvious reasons. The postcard confirmation I got back said it arrived on the 20th. I called to verify this. "We received your check on the 22nd." Really? I'm pretty sure you didn't. They deposited the check. Now they are waiting for it to clear. I should have a check in my hands by the end of this week. Alright. "Can I go ahead and request my first inspection?" "Absolutely. An inspector will contact you within 5 business days to set up an appointment?" Apparently the inspection process moves as quickly as the processing office. Awesome. Inspector calls me a few days later. "I have an opening next tuesday at 1:30 pm." "Um, do you have anything that isn't in the middle of weekday?" "Well, I live in central, so I try not to schedule appointments across town first thing in the morning." "Try living in the city, dipshit. Oh, and not being so lazy" (I didn't actually say this, but I think he might have gotten the message because he's coming at 8)
I'm sorry to rant about this, but it pisses me off. My house was damaged on 1 September and I haven't gotten a dime to help rebuild. I pay my mortgage on time every month. I am current on my insurance. I don't think that it's too much to ask for these people to get me some aid in less than 2 months!
We have done some work. The trees were removed from our house and eventually from our curb. Our yard (front and back) were pretty damaged by this whole process. On 13 October the framing carpenters arrived. After consultation we decided to remove everything above the walls: every joist, rafter, and sheet of decking. Jenny and I needed a vacation so we went to Gulf Shores for the rest of the week. It was great.
When we came back the framing was essentially done. The had to finish up the soffit and fascia which they did on Monday. Because of the damage done by the tree we had to replace the one (yes one) window in the den. We decided not to go with the same setup. I was able to procure 3 Jeld-Wen Vinyl windows (3' x 5'6") for a VERY good price. They look so much better. That's one nice thing we couldn't have done if it weren't for Gustav. Thanks, I guess.
Work has since come to a grinding halt. We are out of money. (Not in the food stamp way, but in the "I'm not using up all of my liquid assets" kind of way.) I owe people money (which I hate!) For the most part they are being very understanding that I am being hosed by the mortgage company, but I still hate it. The sad part is that most of the first check is going to be to pay off people. We really can't do much until we get the second third. I think that roofing is going to eat up the entire second check, so we won't be able to get much done until we get the third check. We'll see. It could definitely be worse. Two of our friends (a couple that have gotten married since Jenny and I did) are living with his parents, his sister, her 3 kids and a total of 3 dogs. Yikes! I love my family, but I don't think we could do that.
I'll try to post again soon (as work progresses). I sincerely hope that my next post won't be so bitter. I am very excited that I will (probably) get to see my siblings in the coming weekends. Hopefully they can make it the house since they haven't seen it yet! I am disappointed that they will see in this shape, but oh well. Hope everything is going well for everyone else. Keep your chins up!
Friday, September 5, 2008
¡No me Gustav!
So I'm assuming anyone who follows this thing has probably already been informed through facebook or phone trees that we took some damage. The house will endure, but unfortunately some of the paneling was damaged beyond repair. One huge tree (outside of my property line) came down taking out two of my trees on the way to land in one big group on the house. For the record, it was one enormous elm (in the words of the tree guy) and two hackberry trees (yeah, I'd never heard of them either).
The roof, overhang, and one exterior wall took some pretty extensive damage. The den window is broken and the lentil is destroyed. The roof took some pretty severe damage. There are some holes in the roof over the dining room as well and a pretty significant amount of water came through the ceiling above the french doors. The house did not flood and all was not lost. The tree was removed late yesterday evening and hopefully this weekend I will have contractors look at it to begin repairs.
It appears that we won't have power for a while. Entergy released a schedule of when different neighborhoods can expect power back. Mine wasn't on it. None of the neighborhoods around me were on it. Yay. Jenny and I may travel to Lafayette to purchase supplies today and to experience a bit of normalcy: to get gas without a line, to grocery shop in the air conditioning, eat a hot meal in a nice, cool restaurant, etc.
I want to mention a few people here who have been great through this whole ordeal. Michael and Sarah top the list. They sheltered us through the storm, fed us dinner, gave us a place to stay and have been caring for Izzy ever since. Chris has come a number of times to help us clean up/work on the damage. He gave us a nice air conditioned office to sleep in for a night and fed us dinner. David and Terry Hebert (my bosses) have allowed us and some friends the use of the office to eat sleep, etc. while we are without power and until I can get the house livable. Carmen has let us shower in her condo and let us do some much needed laundry. I also want to thank Brooke and Nathan for coming to help clean up my mess after spending hours at Nathan's parents' house cleaning up their mess. It's cliche, but it's true. You really how many friends you have when something bad happens.
I'll try to keep this thing updated as best I can. Cell phones are working a little bit better every day, so if anyone needs to get in touch, you probably can. Take care.
The roof, overhang, and one exterior wall took some pretty extensive damage. The den window is broken and the lentil is destroyed. The roof took some pretty severe damage. There are some holes in the roof over the dining room as well and a pretty significant amount of water came through the ceiling above the french doors. The house did not flood and all was not lost. The tree was removed late yesterday evening and hopefully this weekend I will have contractors look at it to begin repairs.
It appears that we won't have power for a while. Entergy released a schedule of when different neighborhoods can expect power back. Mine wasn't on it. None of the neighborhoods around me were on it. Yay. Jenny and I may travel to Lafayette to purchase supplies today and to experience a bit of normalcy: to get gas without a line, to grocery shop in the air conditioning, eat a hot meal in a nice, cool restaurant, etc.
I want to mention a few people here who have been great through this whole ordeal. Michael and Sarah top the list. They sheltered us through the storm, fed us dinner, gave us a place to stay and have been caring for Izzy ever since. Chris has come a number of times to help us clean up/work on the damage. He gave us a nice air conditioned office to sleep in for a night and fed us dinner. David and Terry Hebert (my bosses) have allowed us and some friends the use of the office to eat sleep, etc. while we are without power and until I can get the house livable. Carmen has let us shower in her condo and let us do some much needed laundry. I also want to thank Brooke and Nathan for coming to help clean up my mess after spending hours at Nathan's parents' house cleaning up their mess. It's cliche, but it's true. You really how many friends you have when something bad happens.
I'll try to keep this thing updated as best I can. Cell phones are working a little bit better every day, so if anyone needs to get in touch, you probably can. Take care.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Fence is done! (Almost...)
Well, technically the fence is finished and the gates aren't, but anyway...
Michael, Nathan, and Chris came over on Saturday and helped me get the runners (2x4s) cut and nailed up. Jenny and I had marked the posts earlier in the week. With a borrowed framing nailer and staple gun (from Mark) things went pretty darn well. The rain dampened our spirits a bit, but it cleared off and we were able to resume.
We started putting up the pickets, but had to cut it short so that Jenny and I could get cleaned up for David Smith's wedding in Opelousas. We had a good time at the wedding. It turns out we knew about a half dozen people there (other than the groom and his family). I have to bitch about the 6 oz. cups of beer that they served, but I just resorted to getting 2+ at a time. David told me he was a big fan of the blog (who knew we had fans?) and when he introduced me to his wife she knew who I was. Crazy. Congratulations to David and Emily (I hope you read this), I wish you the best!
Anyhow, I woke Nathan up on Sunday and he came over and we rocked and rolled on the pickets and got the rest of the fence done (except for the areas where gates are going). I continued to work on the fence this week to hammer out some odds and ends. I had to purchase some 8' pickets for one area of the fence that traversed a particular low portion of the yard. I cut them to fit and stapled them in place. Hopefully Mark and I can get together this weekend to get the gates finished up. If he doesn't show, I'll probably have to resort to doing them myself.
I was able to get the yard to the point that Izzy can roam freely now. I had some trellis laying around that I tacked up where one of the gates will go. The back corner of the yard is temporarily fenced off because their is a pile of bricks and other assorted "stuff" back there that I am going to have to pick through before Izzy gets back there. Pictures to follow as soon as I take them and upload them. :)
Michael, Nathan, and Chris came over on Saturday and helped me get the runners (2x4s) cut and nailed up. Jenny and I had marked the posts earlier in the week. With a borrowed framing nailer and staple gun (from Mark) things went pretty darn well. The rain dampened our spirits a bit, but it cleared off and we were able to resume.
We started putting up the pickets, but had to cut it short so that Jenny and I could get cleaned up for David Smith's wedding in Opelousas. We had a good time at the wedding. It turns out we knew about a half dozen people there (other than the groom and his family). I have to bitch about the 6 oz. cups of beer that they served, but I just resorted to getting 2+ at a time. David told me he was a big fan of the blog (who knew we had fans?) and when he introduced me to his wife she knew who I was. Crazy. Congratulations to David and Emily (I hope you read this), I wish you the best!
Anyhow, I woke Nathan up on Sunday and he came over and we rocked and rolled on the pickets and got the rest of the fence done (except for the areas where gates are going). I continued to work on the fence this week to hammer out some odds and ends. I had to purchase some 8' pickets for one area of the fence that traversed a particular low portion of the yard. I cut them to fit and stapled them in place. Hopefully Mark and I can get together this weekend to get the gates finished up. If he doesn't show, I'll probably have to resort to doing them myself.
I was able to get the yard to the point that Izzy can roam freely now. I had some trellis laying around that I tacked up where one of the gates will go. The back corner of the yard is temporarily fenced off because their is a pile of bricks and other assorted "stuff" back there that I am going to have to pick through before Izzy gets back there. Pictures to follow as soon as I take them and upload them. :)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
This will probably take a while...
The fence posts are all set!
That said, I owe many people a significant debt of gratitude. First and foremost Chris Broussard. He and I both completely physically exhausted ourselves yesterday. By this I mean we both collapsed. The most exhausted I have ever been. I got light-headed an hour and a half before we stopped. Then we both got up and started again today. Thank you Chris. I won't give you my first-born daughter, but I owe you something big. In a close second: Mark (my fencing sub-contractor from work) Will, Paul, Michael and Dustin. Everyone was a huge help. Y'all are awesome for showing up and for not hating me at the end of the day. I owe y'all as well. Oh yeah, and Frankie. Thanks for dropping by ;)
I set up this blog for two purposes: the first is that it is a way to keep all of our family and friends (that we may not talk to as regularly as we should) up to date on what is going on; secondly (as it was so delicately pointed out today) so that others can learn from our experiences. I have a pretty decent "nugget of wisdom" to drop on y'all here. Part of it is things I did right, and part of it isn't. If you never plan on building or having a fence built, ignore the next part.
1. This is key - If you have a significant number of trees in your yard and are building a fence over 150' HIRE SOMEONE. I knew this would be a good deal of work, but I would not have believed how much work it would be if I hadn't been there.
2. Rent an auger. Unless you are setting four or less posts, spend the money and rent an auger. This will make the job was easier. If you think the job won't be that bad, see #1.
3. It is advisable to have a professional or experienced amateur on hand. I thought I knew all that I needed to know (I've been picking my Mark's brain for weeks), but I didn't.
4. Have a reciprocating saw on hand. When you find a significant root, you'll understand.
5. When asked where you want the gate to go, don't say "ask the wife." You will end up with a double gate large enough to fit a semi-through (almost).
6. We hit a root larger than 8" across more than a foot in the ground. We dug out barbed wire a foot underground. We ran into concrete. We had to cut down a couple of small trees (up to 5" in diameter.) You will be amazed at what you find and the extra work that crops up.
7. This seems really obvious, I know, but it bears noting: 80 lbs sacks of concrete are heavy. The first one may not be that bad. The 5th one sucks. It gets worse from there.
8. Shop around for prices. Call the lumber yard 20 miles away. If they have the best price, they may deliver for free. If they don't deliver for free, Lowe's will probably price match if they can verify it. I shit you not, one Lowes (out of 3 in BR) has fence pickets for 30 cents less than the others. No 30 cents doesn't seems like much. Multiply it by 500. That's not just pocket change.
9. Home Depot sucks (don't ask).
10. You can't have too many friends. You know they are friends if they know that you are calling to ask you to help set posts and they still answer.
That's all for now, but if I think of anything else I'll post it. I thought it was a bit amusing that my neighbor walks over today as we are setting the last half dozen posts to tell us that we are welcome to tie into his fence. I didn't want to because it is only 4 feet high, but I thought it was kind of funny. Jenny has been taking pictures and I will upload them at some point. I believe that's all for now. I will update when we finish the fence, but that may be a couple of weeks.
That said, I owe many people a significant debt of gratitude. First and foremost Chris Broussard. He and I both completely physically exhausted ourselves yesterday. By this I mean we both collapsed. The most exhausted I have ever been. I got light-headed an hour and a half before we stopped. Then we both got up and started again today. Thank you Chris. I won't give you my first-born daughter, but I owe you something big. In a close second: Mark (my fencing sub-contractor from work) Will, Paul, Michael and Dustin. Everyone was a huge help. Y'all are awesome for showing up and for not hating me at the end of the day. I owe y'all as well. Oh yeah, and Frankie. Thanks for dropping by ;)
I set up this blog for two purposes: the first is that it is a way to keep all of our family and friends (that we may not talk to as regularly as we should) up to date on what is going on; secondly (as it was so delicately pointed out today) so that others can learn from our experiences. I have a pretty decent "nugget of wisdom" to drop on y'all here. Part of it is things I did right, and part of it isn't. If you never plan on building or having a fence built, ignore the next part.
1. This is key - If you have a significant number of trees in your yard and are building a fence over 150' HIRE SOMEONE. I knew this would be a good deal of work, but I would not have believed how much work it would be if I hadn't been there.
2. Rent an auger. Unless you are setting four or less posts, spend the money and rent an auger. This will make the job was easier. If you think the job won't be that bad, see #1.
3. It is advisable to have a professional or experienced amateur on hand. I thought I knew all that I needed to know (I've been picking my Mark's brain for weeks), but I didn't.
4. Have a reciprocating saw on hand. When you find a significant root, you'll understand.
5. When asked where you want the gate to go, don't say "ask the wife." You will end up with a double gate large enough to fit a semi-through (almost).
6. We hit a root larger than 8" across more than a foot in the ground. We dug out barbed wire a foot underground. We ran into concrete. We had to cut down a couple of small trees (up to 5" in diameter.) You will be amazed at what you find and the extra work that crops up.
7. This seems really obvious, I know, but it bears noting: 80 lbs sacks of concrete are heavy. The first one may not be that bad. The 5th one sucks. It gets worse from there.
8. Shop around for prices. Call the lumber yard 20 miles away. If they have the best price, they may deliver for free. If they don't deliver for free, Lowe's will probably price match if they can verify it. I shit you not, one Lowes (out of 3 in BR) has fence pickets for 30 cents less than the others. No 30 cents doesn't seems like much. Multiply it by 500. That's not just pocket change.
9. Home Depot sucks (don't ask).
10. You can't have too many friends. You know they are friends if they know that you are calling to ask you to help set posts and they still answer.
That's all for now, but if I think of anything else I'll post it. I thought it was a bit amusing that my neighbor walks over today as we are setting the last half dozen posts to tell us that we are welcome to tie into his fence. I didn't want to because it is only 4 feet high, but I thought it was kind of funny. Jenny has been taking pictures and I will upload them at some point. I believe that's all for now. I will update when we finish the fence, but that may be a couple of weeks.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Fencing
When I say fencing I don't mean the kind with swords, that would be too much fun. No I mean the 6' dog-eared wooden fence kind. The $8 per linear foot kind. And yes, that's if you do it yourself (which I am for obvious reasons). That doesn't include gates. Did I mention my lot is 100' wide? So yeah, this is me bitching.
Izzy needs a lot more space to run around when we aren't home, so our immediate project is the fence, but the sheetrock is a close second. I previously did a preliminary layout with measurements in order to estimate the cost. Today Jenny and I put stakes at the corners (there are more than 4) and ran string lines to get an idea of how it will look and how much space there will be. It looks pretty good and Izzy took a few laps to try out the space. Next step involves purchasing materials and setting posts. I'll let you know how that goes.
Back to the den... When the den was added to the house, the way they tied the old roof to the new roof does not allow access to the attic space over the den (a considerable area). After conferring with David (my boss) I elected to put a small access panel to the attic in the den. In order to do this I will have to do quite a bit of framing work with the ceiling joists. I already removed the necessary ceiling tiles to view the area in question. I am going to wait to do the framing work until after we get the fence done, since that is a bit more pressing right now. As soon as the fence is done, it's back to the den to get the job fully underway. We have quite a few activities scattered over the coming weekends and football season is quickly approaching. I need to focus in order to make decent progress.
The other backyard operation is cleaning out the swale (small ditch) in my backyard. I did some work in there two weekends ago and again this morning. It's almost done. Since the swale won't be included in the fenced area, I feel the need to clean it up a bit before we hide it. We are probably going to go to our friends' house, Michael and Sarah's, this afternoon to let Izzy play with their lab Loki. I hope it goes well :/ It did last time.
Hope to update again soon!
Izzy needs a lot more space to run around when we aren't home, so our immediate project is the fence, but the sheetrock is a close second. I previously did a preliminary layout with measurements in order to estimate the cost. Today Jenny and I put stakes at the corners (there are more than 4) and ran string lines to get an idea of how it will look and how much space there will be. It looks pretty good and Izzy took a few laps to try out the space. Next step involves purchasing materials and setting posts. I'll let you know how that goes.
Back to the den... When the den was added to the house, the way they tied the old roof to the new roof does not allow access to the attic space over the den (a considerable area). After conferring with David (my boss) I elected to put a small access panel to the attic in the den. In order to do this I will have to do quite a bit of framing work with the ceiling joists. I already removed the necessary ceiling tiles to view the area in question. I am going to wait to do the framing work until after we get the fence done, since that is a bit more pressing right now. As soon as the fence is done, it's back to the den to get the job fully underway. We have quite a few activities scattered over the coming weekends and football season is quickly approaching. I need to focus in order to make decent progress.
The other backyard operation is cleaning out the swale (small ditch) in my backyard. I did some work in there two weekends ago and again this morning. It's almost done. Since the swale won't be included in the fenced area, I feel the need to clean it up a bit before we hide it. We are probably going to go to our friends' house, Michael and Sarah's, this afternoon to let Izzy play with their lab Loki. I hope it goes well :/ It did last time.
Hope to update again soon!
Monday, June 16, 2008
She has a name!
And it is Izzy! Short for Isabelle, of course. We had to pick a name today so that we could bring her to the vet to get checked out. She checked out great, with two exceptions. The vet believes that she is a little older than we were told. Based on her size, he estimates that she is closer to 12 weeks than the 8 weeks we thought. She also tested positive for an intestinal parasite which is very common in puppies. No big deal. The vet gave us some medicine to give her daily for the next couple of weeks. She had her first dose tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Seriously.
She weighed in at 13 lbs and was adored by everyone at the vet clinic. It didn't hurt that we interrupted a nap to make our appointment. She was very docile.
THE HOUSE!
So a small, but important update about the house. We met with Patti Crum on Sunday (father's day). For those who don't know her, she is Mr. James' sister. If you don't know who Mr. James is, consider Patti to be Jenny's aunt. She is working (at no charge) as our interior designer. We discussed what we needed to in order to get things moving again. We can begin sheetrocking shortly. We have chosen interior and exterior colors for the house. I am excited. I hope to have the den done for football season.
She weighed in at 13 lbs and was adored by everyone at the vet clinic. It didn't hurt that we interrupted a nap to make our appointment. She was very docile.
THE HOUSE!
So a small, but important update about the house. We met with Patti Crum on Sunday (father's day). For those who don't know her, she is Mr. James' sister. If you don't know who Mr. James is, consider Patti to be Jenny's aunt. She is working (at no charge) as our interior designer. We discussed what we needed to in order to get things moving again. We can begin sheetrocking shortly. We have chosen interior and exterior colors for the house. I am excited. I hope to have the den done for football season.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
New Addition!
So this post doesn't actually pertain to the physical structure of the house itself, but rather to those who live in it. We got a puppy! She is cute as a button and no, she doesn't have a name just yet. We are working on it. Her mother is a black lab and her father is a champion cattle herding Catahoula hound (state dog of LA). She and her siblings (I'm told there were 4 altogether) are the result of a hook-up at a social function for the owners of her parents. Her mother weighs in around 50 lbs and her father around 60-70. Hopefully she will be smaller than either of them *not holding breath* but we'll just have to wait and see. I am going to start a photo album for her.
Suggestions for names are welcome. She's active and likes to chew everything and is quickly learning what she she is allowed to chew on and what she is not. She loves playing outside and especially chewing on leaves, grass, and anything she can find. We are working on the house breaking thing and that's going okay. Right before we got her she learned to retrieve and can do that pretty well (for a 7 week old, come on...). She seems pretty smart.
She says "rwoo rwoo rwoo"
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Explanation...
This post is a result of harassment from the peanut gallery via facebook. The reason that the blog hasn't been updated recently is because there hasn't been much progress :( The last couple of weekends have been pretty busy. My birthday weekend we threw a crawfish boil on Friday, recovered on Saturday (and played a lot of Mario Kart at Miranda's) and then went to another crawfish boil on Sunday. This past weekend we went to dinner and Will's show on Friday. Cleaned house, grocery shopped, moved my BBQ Pit and the buffet, etc. on Saturday. Sunday we hosted Mother's Day for Mom, Cherie, Mimi, Nanny, Ms. Shirley, Dad and Uncle Joe. And Tuesday night we had Grandma, Aunt Linda, Paul, Christy, Brandy, and Ms. Shirley come over after dinner (at Sammy's) for cake and a tour of the house (and some Mario Kart).
The one bit of progress I have made was yesterday. All of those dangling wires seen in the last post are a result of removing the closet. I used the VERY limited knowledge of electricity that I have to get the two receptacles and fan that weren't working back into service. And I didn't shock myself!! (this really surprised me; I usually find a way)
I will post as soon as there are more developments. Hang in there!
The one bit of progress I have made was yesterday. All of those dangling wires seen in the last post are a result of removing the closet. I used the VERY limited knowledge of electricity that I have to get the two receptacles and fan that weren't working back into service. And I didn't shock myself!! (this really surprised me; I usually find a way)
I will post as soon as there are more developments. Hang in there!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Closet is gone
After a bit of sweating and cursing, the closet it gone. I guess there's not too much to really say about it. I used a flat bar, maul, and hammer to take it all out. I'm having a bit of trouble getting the top plate down. My boss has offerred me a larger pry bar and I think I am going to take him up on that. I'm sure I can get it down otherwise, but I think it'll be easier with a larger lever.
We now have to get on to the much larger and more daunting task of laying out the room (basically the electrical/lighting) and then hanging sheetrock. Anyone who wants to help (especially anyone with experience) is welcome!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Progress has been made!
So I know I haven't maintained my previous frequency with the updates. Trust me, I know more than you do! I haven't been making the steady progress on the house that I once was. We were out of town last weekend. I have been doing various small things and have not made a substantial amount of progress in any particular area... until today!
The main project going on right now it the remodel of the "den." In a prior post, the desk/shelving unit was demolished. Today I began to "demo" the dryer closet. 'What is a dryer closet,' you might ask. Apparently many years ago (long before I existed) people had washing machines, but no dryers. Apparently it was in these prehistoric days that our house was originally built. When the den addition was constructed, dryers were in vogue. In order to accomodate this new bit of technology, they built a closet in the den to house the dryer. This placed the washer and dryer in two distinct (although adjacent) rooms.
Some time ago, I set about moving the dryer (vent and electrical outlet) into the laundry room proper. Today I cleaned all of my stuff out of the closet (Jenny removed her stuff earlier) and began the de-constructing. I decided to remove the paneling before breaking out the maul. I think it is less messy this way. It also allows me to view and dismantle the wiring before destroying the framing. Today I got all of the paneling from the closet, the shelves in the closet, and all trim molding. Jenny also assisted me in hauling all of the debris to the curb.
I took pictures to post here, but Jenny damaged her hard drive and the new one apparently does not have the necessary software to link up to the camera. I will work on that for next time.
The main project going on right now it the remodel of the "den." In a prior post, the desk/shelving unit was demolished. Today I began to "demo" the dryer closet. 'What is a dryer closet,' you might ask. Apparently many years ago (long before I existed) people had washing machines, but no dryers. Apparently it was in these prehistoric days that our house was originally built. When the den addition was constructed, dryers were in vogue. In order to accomodate this new bit of technology, they built a closet in the den to house the dryer. This placed the washer and dryer in two distinct (although adjacent) rooms.
Some time ago, I set about moving the dryer (vent and electrical outlet) into the laundry room proper. Today I cleaned all of my stuff out of the closet (Jenny removed her stuff earlier) and began the de-constructing. I decided to remove the paneling before breaking out the maul. I think it is less messy this way. It also allows me to view and dismantle the wiring before destroying the framing. Today I got all of the paneling from the closet, the shelves in the closet, and all trim molding. Jenny also assisted me in hauling all of the debris to the curb.
I took pictures to post here, but Jenny damaged her hard drive and the new one apparently does not have the necessary software to link up to the camera. I will work on that for next time.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Update...
Not too much to say. Jenny and I are away this weekend and so won't be able to get any work done. The custom blinds that we ordered came in this week. They're just your standard 2" Faux Wood blinds. I have about half of them up so far. They're easy to put up, but I've been scrubbing each window as I go along. That's the pain and takes a while. I will update later this week as I hope to get some work done during the week. Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Shelf Demo
On saturday, after my previous post, Kristen, Chris B, and I took out a built-in in the den. I had mostly disassembled the shelves on a previous night this week. Chris and I finished it up while the girls picked up lunch.
It didn't take very long and was pretty uneventful. I have posted some pictures of the work. Just one more step in the sheetrock project.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
French Doors
As with most of my adventures, this one begins with "Nathan and I..."
So a group of my friends (Chris B., Sarah, Michael, Nathan, Brooke, Jenny and I ) went out to dinner last Friday. After stuffing ourselves and drinking a couple of beers, Nathan and I decided to change out the sliding doors at our house for french doors. As I had already purchased two sets of french doors and was low on beer, we went to the grocery store. After securing "supplies" we make it back to the house. It is now around 10:00.
It is decided that the sliding door in the dining room will be changed out first because it is the most offensive. When we moved in the door was broken. It wouldn't move and was allowing water to enter the house. As a temporary solution I had previously siliconed it shut. Back to the story - the sliding part of the door came out with a bit of grunting and cussing. The fixed part of the door (which can usually be removed whole) was not so willing. It was built into the jamb. We thought, let's remove the glass so we don't break it. Well, it was impossible to remove it without breaking it. Okay, let's just rip this thing out. In doing so, we broke every piece of glass in it, save one. Hoorah! The door is out!
As a side note, Michael decides to remove the single piece of glass that survived, for posterity's sake I suppose. In the course of trying to remove it, he broke it. Now we install the door! The door is brought over, placed in the hole... The opening is too big. About an inch and a half too big all around. There is no way we can finish this in one night.
So, there's a big hole in the side of the house (approx. 6' x 6' 8") and a door that is not quite big enough. So we stick it in there for the night and hang some fabric over it. With plans to start fresh the next day, we drink some more beer and then go to bed.
The next morning Nathan called at 9:00. I answer the phone, still in bed, to find that he is at the front door. I am speechless. Jenny called me a liar (not really, but she probably thought it). I throw on some shorts and run to the door and (Holy Crap!) he's actually standing there. This is shaping up to be a good start. After a Lowe's run and a call to Michael for backup, we eat some blueberry muffins and set to work.
By about 3:00 we have both doors installed, squared and good to go. Turns out we should have started with the other door. It was much more cut and dry. As with any good project, it's not entirely done. I can't trim out the inside because I have to sheet rock over the paneling first. I can't trim out the outside until I purchase some tools. The doors function and look so much better than the sliding doors did.
Monday, March 31, 2008
First post!
So I've been wanting to do this since we closed on the house. Jenny doesn't seem crazy about it, so we'll see how often she posts.
There is a great deal to cover in the beginning, so I'm going to split this into a few posts.
We bought a house! You probably already know this. You may or may not have been to it. I am going to set up a photo album to serve a couple of different purposes. First and foremost, we want to preserve the original (and I mean ORIGINAL) look of the house. Secondly, I want everyone who hasn't yet toured it to know what we're up against. Lastly, I want a way to compare. This is the room before and after; the floor before and after, the door before and after, etc.
If you've already been here or are privy to the tale so far, you can skip this paragraph. Jenny and I purchased a house in Baton Rouge. The house was built in the 1960s. It is a Ranch-style, 4 Bedroom, 3 bath, 2500 sq. ft. brick house. It sits on a decent sized lot: 100' x 180'. The house has not been updated since it was built. You only think I'm exaggerating. The dining room, kitchen and den (a later addition to the original house) have paneling. The refrigerator is avocado green. All of the light fixtures are original. The bedrooms had blue or green sculptured carpet.
Been to the house? Skip this one too. You can look at the album (once it's published) to get the full idea. All of the flooring in the house will be replaced, except for the parquet floor in the front room. That will be refinished. Everything will be sheetrocked. All of the bi-fold, louvered doors will be gone. The list goes on...
The plan is to post (with pictures) all of our weekend projects. My friends have already been a big help (thanks to Michael and Nathan and Chris B). A number of other people have offered their assistance and will appear later in the blog. Our plan is to do whatever we can feasibly do ourselves and to pay contractors to do the rest.
In the upcoming posts I will bring you up to date on what has been done thus far. I will post on facebook when I update (if you don't know what this means, don't worry about it) to point people over here. As we plan to be working on the house frequently, we should be updating pretty frequently.
Wish us luck!
There is a great deal to cover in the beginning, so I'm going to split this into a few posts.
We bought a house! You probably already know this. You may or may not have been to it. I am going to set up a photo album to serve a couple of different purposes. First and foremost, we want to preserve the original (and I mean ORIGINAL) look of the house. Secondly, I want everyone who hasn't yet toured it to know what we're up against. Lastly, I want a way to compare. This is the room before and after; the floor before and after, the door before and after, etc.
If you've already been here or are privy to the tale so far, you can skip this paragraph. Jenny and I purchased a house in Baton Rouge. The house was built in the 1960s. It is a Ranch-style, 4 Bedroom, 3 bath, 2500 sq. ft. brick house. It sits on a decent sized lot: 100' x 180'. The house has not been updated since it was built. You only think I'm exaggerating. The dining room, kitchen and den (a later addition to the original house) have paneling. The refrigerator is avocado green. All of the light fixtures are original. The bedrooms had blue or green sculptured carpet.
Been to the house? Skip this one too. You can look at the album (once it's published) to get the full idea. All of the flooring in the house will be replaced, except for the parquet floor in the front room. That will be refinished. Everything will be sheetrocked. All of the bi-fold, louvered doors will be gone. The list goes on...
The plan is to post (with pictures) all of our weekend projects. My friends have already been a big help (thanks to Michael and Nathan and Chris B). A number of other people have offered their assistance and will appear later in the blog. Our plan is to do whatever we can feasibly do ourselves and to pay contractors to do the rest.
In the upcoming posts I will bring you up to date on what has been done thus far. I will post on facebook when I update (if you don't know what this means, don't worry about it) to point people over here. As we plan to be working on the house frequently, we should be updating pretty frequently.
Wish us luck!
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